152 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



opinion that we have no pure Durhams here, as 

 they have in Enghmd, Ohio, Kentucky and Illi- 

 nois. Ours are crosses. The treatment of cattle 

 is a very important matter. His man had told 

 him that when his cows had been- turned out for 

 a couple of hours during the late cold weather, 

 they gave two quarts less of milk — that is, they 

 gave only 30 quarts where they gave 32 quarts 

 previously. Cattle should be kept warm, in a 

 temperature of 40 degrees. In feeding cattle, 

 turnips, which can be raised cheaply, are ver^' 

 advantageous, saving a good deal of hay, and 

 bringing the animals out in better condition in 

 the spring. As to the breeds of cattle, he hoped 

 the day would come when the State or some be- 

 nevolent individual would make minute and sys- 

 tematic experiments, which would point out the 

 race of cattle best adapted to the peculiar wants 

 of New England. 



lion. Setii Sprague, of Duxbury, followed. 

 He remarked that he was not certain that he un- 

 derstood any thing about the subject ; still, he 

 had his opinion in regard to the matter, founded 

 upon the results which eminent herdsmen had 

 attained in other countries. He believed that the 

 laws which govern the reproduction of animals, 

 were as fixed and determinate as those which 

 control plants, or other natural productions, and 

 are as capable of actual experiments as chemistry 

 or any other science. The breeding of cattle 

 commenced in England seventy-five years ago, 

 upon certain rules, and the fact has there been 

 established that any kind of cattle desired can be 

 raised, and with a certain result. Can a jiair of 

 Ciittle be obtained in New England which will 

 produce offspring exactly like themselves? Col. 

 Jacques said he would breed cattle to order of 

 any form or color. If we take good bred stock, 

 we may be certain of the progeny ; but with our 

 native stock good offspring are the exception, and 

 poor prove the rule. They are the result of a 

 mixing of two hundred years, without regard to 

 the laws which make like produce like, and we 

 cannot expect to produce from this mixed blood 

 an animal of any certain size, form, color or 

 quality. The English herdsmen have raised their 

 noble stocks by breeding for fifty years without 

 crossing. If you put a Devon bull to any kind 

 of mixed cow, the Devon blood will predominate. 



Mr. Fay, of Lynn, commended the views of 

 Mr. Sprague. He believed that a race of cattle 

 could be obtained from native stock equal to any 

 in the world. It has been demonstrated that we 

 have as good milch, working and beef cattle as 

 existed, and having all these qualities, a good 

 breed can be obtained in twenty or thirty years. 

 It must be done by breeding in-and-in, until a 

 fixity of type is obtained ; when the male produ- 

 ces a fixed type, the process has been carried far 



enough, and then vigor or certain qualities may 

 bo infused by crossing. There is no danger of vi- 

 tiation after this fixity of type is attained. To 

 counteract the deterioration which supervenes in 

 animals at certain periods, a pure blood cow 

 should not be used for crossing, but a good one 

 whose blood is mixed as much as possible, and an 

 animal as perfect as the male will be obtained. 

 The hardiness or other quality of this cow will 

 be imparted without affecting the blood race. It 

 is the predominance of one blood over another 

 which makes a race. If a bull's pedigree goes 

 back only for a short distance even, and he is put 

 with a mixed cow, a good race will be propa- 

 gated. 



Col. Newell, of Essex, remarked that his ex- 

 perience accorded precisely with the views ad- 

 vanced by the last two speakers. He avowed his 

 disbelief in the notion of a stock of native cattle. 

 We have none, and the reason is that no one has 

 attempted to take so-called native cattle and bring 

 out their peculiarities, Col. Jaques used a for- 

 eign bull in attempting to get up a native stock. 



Mr. Sprague said he would admit that a breed 

 of native cattle of a certain type might be raised, 

 but it would be a matter of much difiBculty and 

 expense. Suppose a couple of cattle are taken, 

 as nearly what is desired as possible, and in a 

 year or two the head will be found too large, the 

 body too short or too long, or some other defect 

 appear, and it will be necessary to begin anew. 

 The task would require a man peculiarly fitted 

 for it by education, judgment and experience, 

 and would be the work of twenty or thirty years. 



Mr. Fay remarked that the work of rearing a 

 new race should be commenced not with one cow 

 and one bull, but with herds, and those young 

 cattle. After obtaining the race best adapted to 

 New England, with its small farms — which would 

 be one combining in the highest degree milk, beef 

 and work — offshoots would appear which would 

 excel for milk, for beef and for work, separately, 

 and we should thus get far better cows than we 

 now have. In Switzerland, where milch cows 

 are most prized, the bull's pedigree is closely scru- 

 tinized, to see if his mother was distinguished for 

 her milking qualities, as it is the bull which de- 

 termines the character of the offspring. 



Mr. BucKMiNSTER. of Framlngham, said the 

 yield of butter in this commonwealth might be 

 increased from five pounds to ten pounds per cow 

 per week, because we can have a race which will 

 give it. He also offered some very interesting re- 

 marks in regard to "native" and foreign cattle, 

 which our limits will not permit us to sketch. 



Pertinent remarks were also made by Messrs. 

 Howard, of the CuUiaator, Merriam, of Tewk&- 

 bury, and Emerson, of Boston, but we have not 

 room for them. 



